More than 300 guests converged at the Vancouver Convention Centre for the AccolAIDS Gala presented by Positive Living B.C. Held every two years to recognize heroes in the AIDS/HIV movement, chair John Bishop welcomed gala-goers to the dinner and auction that began with a cocktail reception and entertainment by the Nick Leffler Trio and Pacific Sound Collective. Yours truly and Global TV’s Sophie Lui, were masters of ceremonies at the ViiV Healthcare-sponsored celebrations.

Mission’s campus of care will include a residence for mental health clients next year.

The former Pleasant View Care Home will be converted into a new 54-bed mental health residential campus, Fraser Health announced Wednesday. It will include three sections, including a 19-bed residential care facility, a 22-bed assisted living centre, and 13 bachelor suites.

The new facility will offer three levels of care for mental health patients, said Meryl McDowell, director for mental health and substance use services for Fraser Health.

Spirituality and its place in health care was the subject of a panel discussion at Thompson Rivers University. A five member panel of experts shared their perspectives about how health care outcomes can improve if a patient's spirituality is considered as part of a recovery, or health care strategy. As Gareth Madoc Jones reports, part of the evening's message was for more discussion about including spirituality as part of our medical system.

A study tracing the evolution of HIV in North America has found evidence that the virus is slowly adapting over time to its human hosts. However, this change is so gradual that it is unlikely to have an impact on vaccine design.

“Much research has focused on how HIV adapts to antiviral drugs—we wanted to investigate how HIV adapts to us, its human hosts, over time,” says lead author Zabrina Brumme, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences.

Spencer Chandra Herbert, Vancouver-West End MLA wrote a letter to Hon. Terry Lake, Minister of Health on April 24th. The subject was St. Paul's Hospital and specifically the redevelopment of the Hospital. The full letter can be read at the link below.

“Much research has focused on how HIV adapts to antiviral drugs – we wanted to investigate how HIV adapts to us, its human host, over time,” says lead author Zabrina Brumme from Simon Fraser University.

Richard Harrigan, Director of Lab Program at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS receives the PHC Research and Mission Award for 2014. This award recognizes outstanding science research while demonstrating the mission and values of PHC.